Rio teachers

Nationally teachers and teachers' unions are being scapegoated. Some politicians try to pit teachers against children, experienced teachers against new teachers, etc. They offer us simplistic solutions and distract us from the real issue, which is corruption at the top. They tell us teachers' pensions are bloated – lumping us in with school, police and firefighter administrators like Bob Roper, whose pension is $250,000. Many school administrators' pensions are more than $100,000. The average teachers' pension after 27 years is about 40,000.

Rio School District always has been a microcosm of our nation. Rio has some wonderful administrators and school board members. Unfortunately, the administrators in charge of negotiating the new contract are part of the old regime that is anti-teacher and want to balance the budget disproportionately on the backs of the teachers – scapegoating teachers.

In Rio, salaries for administrators have grown at a faster rate than teachers. administrators are now proposing solutions like giving teachers a permanent pay cut while administrators have a temporary pay cut. Rio's teachers recognize they need to make financial sacrifices, but they want to be treated fairly.

The key to an excellent education for our students is not a secret. It is excellent teachers. The key question is, how do we attract, support and retain excellent teachers? It is not by scapegoating teachers while having a different standard for those at the top. Please support Rio Teacher's Association.